Defra said the government’s Water Delivery Taskforce stepped in as Anglian Water previously objected to several large-scale developments due to concerns over wastewater treatment capacity. The Taskforce brought together local planning authorities, regulators and Anglian Water to agree a path forward.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said:

“This is another success story for the government’s Water Delivery Taskforce, which has already unblocked over 55,000 homes with solutions driven by pragmatic thinking and long-term strategy.

“We are unlocking growth and getting Britain building while protecting our precious water supplies. Under this government’s reforms, we are securing a brighter future with new homes and new jobs across the country.”

Through the new approach, Anglian Water is working with developers and planning authorities at an earlier stage in the process to enable large scale developments of over 500 homes, allowing infrastructure upgrades to be funded and delivered in a phased way over multiple investment cycles.

The taskforce has opened up conversations around a potential new water recycling centre for Grantham – plus the existing construction of a strategic pipeline and 20-million-litre storage reservoir to allow for thousands more homes in the years ahead.

This is key for the East of England, one of the driest regions in the country but with one of the fastest growing populations and highest potential for growth, and follows previous Taskforce success in North Sussex, where around 21,000 homes have already been unlocked through collaborative work to resolve a four-year pause on development.

The developments closer to being built are:

Mark Thurston, Chief Executive Officer at Anglian Water said:

“Given the concentration and scale of growth in the East of England, we are at the forefront of many major infrastructure projects, including two new reservoirs, our Strategic Interconnecting Pipeline, hundreds of miles of modern pipes, water recycling infrastructure and nature-based solutions, such as wetlands.

“We are working with regulators to chart the path between environmental compliance and supporting growth, and through our work with Defra’s Water Delivery Taskforce, Anglian Water is working with developers and local planning authorities at an earlier stage in the process to enable large scale developments of over 500 homes. This is an encouraging step forward in enabling us to deliver infrastructure upgrades over multiple investment cycles.”

Earlier this year, the government also announced over 130,000 new homes will be built faster thanks to the New Homes Accelerator, established in 2024 to get spades in the ground more quickly by providing local areas with additional planning capacity and removing regulatory hurdles.